The BMW M3, How Good is the New One?

BMW brought out a more powerful, more performance oriented version of their E30 3-series in 1986. They called it the M3, it had a 2.3L 4 cylinder engine producing 192hp (some M3s had 215hp versions of the 2.3L engine and they had some with a 238hp 2.5L I4). It wasn't terribly fast, 0-60 took around 7 seconds (the 238hp car was about one second faster), but the handling and the way it drove was better than just about any other car of the time. The E30 M3 is still thought of as one of the most fun to drive cars of all time. It was certainly better than its replacement, the E36 M3. BMW brought out the E36 M3 in 1992, it had only 240hp in the US versions, but 286hp in the much better European versions. The E36 3-series was never a very good car, despite its rear wheel drive chassis the front wheel drive Volvo 850 was just as good to drive. It wasn't safe at all either, it only got 2 stars from EuroNCAP and was flagged for a serious safety problem. In 1996 a the E36 M3's 3.0L I6 was enlarged to 3.2 liters and European versions got 321hp, meaning it was a competitor to the Porsche 911, but US versions were still being beat by Volvo 850 T5s and Rs. In 2000 we got the proper E46 M3, this time the US version only had 10 less horsepower than the European version, we got a 333hp 3.2L I6 this time. The E46 M3 was a wonderful car, it had a great chassis and one of the best engines in the world. Now there is a E92 M3 and I think it is the best M3 yet. It is the first M3 to have a V8 engine, that V8 engine takes every one of the previous M3 engines, as great as they were, and completely destroys them. It has 420hp, from only 4.0 liters, 295lb, revs to 8000 rpm, and sounds wonderful. The best part of all in the new M3 is its wonderful handling. In a Car and Driver comparison the M3 beat both the amazing new 480hp Porsche 911 and the laws of physics breaking Nissan GT-R R35. The M3 doesn't have the classic design of the 911, but for $53000 (sedan) or $56,000 (coupe) it is a much better performance car for the money. The practicality of the sedan is also very useful, because it has a large back seat and big trunk the M3 sedan is a good family car as well as a world beating sports car. BMW has made a big mistake by selling a convertible M3. The convertible is soft and has sloppy handling compared with any coupe, sedan, or sportwagon 3-Series, just like what. The convertible is also ugly, they tried to make it look like a 3-Series coupe, but because of the stupid folding metal roof it has a longer trunk (the trunk is still much smaller) and they messed up the rear roof line. I think the M3 is better than the M5 and M6, because it has a better chassis than both, meaning it is much better to drive, it looks much better, costs a lot less, has a better engine, and is safer than a M5. The new M3 is probably the best new car of 2008 and one of the all time great cars.